Including “Encouragements and Aspirations” by Pastor Verlan Van Ee of the Reformed Church of North America at the end of an eight month pastoral Exchange with Rev. Martin de Graaf of Tecoma.
Rev. Fred Vanderbom, Trowel & Sword, Jan./Feb. 1997
Preamble written by Rev. Fred Vanderbom: December’s (last week’s) Gleanings pages were drawn from the two reflective articles from the Rev. Verlan Van Ee of the Christian Reformed Church of North America. He wrote these in Melbourne last August, at the end of an eight month pastoral exchange with the Pastor of the Reformed Church of Tecoma, Rev, Martin de Graaf. After some months of leave and travel, both pastors and their families planned to be back in their own homes and churches before Christmas. Pastor Van Ee’s observations in his first two articles referred to the strange ways of the Country of Oz, to winter in Melbourne, and to being a pastor and member of God’s church in Australia and for Australians. Pastor Verlan Van Ee’s third article was titled Encouragements and Aspirations. I was blessed by the Lord as I read it, and have included it in full. I trust that its positive tone, its warm insights, and its thoughtful encouragement and prayers will enrich your summer reading.
Encouragements and Aspirations
“In Hebrews 10:25b we read: but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.’ This is the final ‘let us in a series of five which the author of Hebrews uses in an inspiring call to persevere (Hebrews 10:19ff). It is a call to a sincere faith, a solid hope, and a stirring love. A kind of back-to-the-basics of the gospel renewal and revival by which the church and individual Christian are encouraged and built up. Such is my final word to Tecoma and the RCA. Be encouraged and keep up the good work that God has begun within you (Philippians 1:3-6) and that God is doing through you (Ephesians. 3:20-21).
“I say this especially in light of the restlessness and disillusionment I have sensed in some. I believe you need to go a little easier on yourselves, on each other, and to reassess your feelings about your churches and your expectations of the church and its leaders. I sense the RCA (CRCA) is, in some ways, going through a mid-life crisis as it has now passed its 40th year, its first generation. Look at how much change that immigrant generation and its now adult children have had to endure. No wonder there are hurts, tensions, and worries that are affecting your self image as a church. Here in the RCA you have had to go through in 40 years (one generation) what the CRC (Christian Reformed Church) in America took 120-150 years (three generations) to wrestle through. And the nature and speed of change in this second half of the 20th century has only intensified the challenges of a young immigrant church.
“Considering that, it’s no wonder the RCA had the lowest rate of visitors and a very low rate of contact with non-Christians, according to the 1991 Church Life Survey. A somewhat inward focus was initially important in order to survive. And as the 1991 report also showed, you haven’t just survived, but in some areas really thrived, such as having the highest retention rates in worship of all participating denominations. That faithfulness in fellowship, that ‘hanging in there’ despite the hurts and tensions, that loyal commitment to community and continuity will certainly find its natural blessing in succeeding generations. So keep on hanging on! Persevere! It’s worth the pain and problems that remain to be worked through.
“May the spirit of encouragement and the power of prayer be very evident among you in these next transitional years. Pray and work for reconciliation between the generations and for a working unity between the widening factions that are developing within our Reformed Churches. It’s going to take a lot of humility, forgiveness, and forbearance for our churches and individual members to make peace with their past and move on with God’s mission. The generation that is passing on needs to leave its blessing with the generations behind it. The generation presently ‘at the wheel’ needs more than ever to ‘keep an eye on the rear view mirror’ (the past), and hard as it may be, to be humbly respectful of any helpful driving tips it might receive from the back seat. The upcoming generation of on-looking passengers need to be trusting and forbearing, realising that adults, just like youth are still in process and that the road of sanctification is a long one with lots of curves and potholes. And: all three generations need to come to the greater realisation that really no one generation ever owns the wheel or has the right of way. This is a family vehicle we are riding in together, and God the Father Himself is the Sovereign Steerer. But the trip sure does go a lot more smoothly and quickly when all the passengers cooperate and enjoy travelling together.
“It’s been a great privilege as an American pastor to be a sojourner with the RCA these past eight months. It’s been exciting but it hasn’t always been easy. Just like driving on the left side of the road has been a real adventure and excitement for this Yank. I leave Australia with some new perspectives and better appreciation. I can appreciate a bit better now what sacrifices, adjustments, and challenges missionaries have in their work. I also appreciate even more how much effort and grace it must take to establish and maintain Reformed and wider Christian ecumenical associations between churches and denominations. Things can look a lot different sometimes from the opposite side of the car. It’s a freeing experience as well to see the differences and realise that often ‘different is good’ or, put another way, to realise that different isn’t necessarily bad or good… just different. It’s certainly good to get out of our familiar safe ruts and thus broaden our horizons.
“I encourage more churches and pastors to be open to the idea of pastoral exchanges. I believe it has been a great way for both the pastors and the churches to get some time and space to reflect on where they are at and where they want to go next. I’m grateful to have had the extra time to read, reflect, and plan, for a change. It’s also been a real blessing not to be the primary mover, shaker, and decision maker, but rather to be more of a behind-the-scenes encourager and consultant. I think it’s good in our churches as well when people are challenged to take more pastoral and ministry responsibilities upon themselves and not just leave them for the pastor or other paid staff.
“I’m encouraged to have forged this very personal bond with my Reformed brothers and sisters ‘Down Under’. The world-wide communion of the saints will never again be just a concept believed in. Rather it will be an experienced reality that I will cherish all my days, and one which I hope I have many chances to renew both on my side of the world and yours. God be with you till we meet again.”
***
Although on a much smaller scale, preaching exchanges between RCA pastors and ministers of the Reformed persuasion from an increasing range of other denominations are slowly becoming more common. From Launceston Tasmania, we read that the minister of the city’s Presbyterian Church, “Rev. Steve Nicholson, will preach in our evening service today. (Rev. Bert Kuipers will preach at St Andrews.) We welcome Rev. Nicholson and hope this pulpit exchange will be another small step in better knowledge and understanding of our respective denominations.”
***
With the first Trowel & Sword Gleanings for 1997, I want to say “thank you” to all the faithful men and women who regularly send copies of their church news to me. More churches are always encouraged to allow me to see their news. Many of our church bulletins are only a sheet of announcements, rosters, and the familiar publicity items. Sometimes people ask me to include events or material that is being advertised throughout our Churches, or devotional or general news material which is sometimes included in our church news sheets. This does not make for interesting reading for most of our readers.
What “Gleanings” aims to give is a “window” into the congregation’s life or work. This will include news, comments from church members on work and activities, and even other events outside their congregation. It is from all this material that I can glean. I find it is sometimes of great interest and value to our RCA readers. Comments are always welcome. From the comments I do get, I believe that our Gleanings pages continue to inform and encourage our readers – as they have for so long.
Fred L Vanderbom Pastor of the Reformed Church of Wollongong (NSW)
Footnote: When I first started researching for the possibility of rebooting some form of T&S nearly five years ago some may remember it included the possibility of sharing meditations written for our local newsletters with other churches. I have since come to realise, a view shared by some of the replies I received, that meditations were not what was needed. After all, there is no shortage of meditations available on the internet. What was really yearned for was a sharing in the life of fellow Christians in the Christian Reformed Churches both in Australia and New Zealand. Fred understood this and this is what Fred gave us in the pages of T&S through his column “Australian Gleanings”. In his own words: What “Gleanings” aims to give is a “window” into the congregation’s life or work. This will include news, comments from church members on work and activities, and even other events outside their congregation.
In the past thirteen years we have witnessed a double whammy. First was the loss of T&S and now also the loss of Fred himself. That the “Gleanings” was an important part of church life (as well as Fred’s life), is I think, self evident judging by the number of people regularly sending in their contributions to Fred. The question is: “Is there one person, or a small group, in all of Australia, willing to put their hand up to continue what Fred started; either through the pages of TSR or in some other form?” What a marvellous memorial that would be for Rev. Fred Vanderbom.
T&S Revisited 